Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Josh's Wiggly Pasta in a 9 Patch Block

Josh here, and it's pasta time:

This one was not one of my favorites. To be perfectly honest, it was quite frustrating making so many errors and regularly stitching off the line (this is one of the few times Spoonflower cheater panels do not make the job easier, though of course not having to piece the block made it worth it)

Let's see how it went:

The border squiggles came a lot more naturally, and looking back on it, I can see I should have quilted them first and then made my way in. I think this would have eased my transition into the much more challenging loopy lines in the center of the block.

Because these blocks are so small it's okay to quilt from the outside in or inside out, whichever way works better for you.

I would also break out some scrap fabric and practice this block at least once before attempting this block. This would have made things more comfortable and I would have known exactly what I was getting into. I did trace the pattern a little bit with a pencil on the quilting guide, but I think actually sitting down with a practice sandwich would have been a better way to prepare.

2 comments:

Hi Josh, if you really get into this quilting thing (lots of men do it now) get yourself a Bernina. Any of my Bernina's quilt in any (really any) direction. I think it is the difference in the bobbin. The bobbin on most machines are drop in these days and the thread takes an extreme bend before it comes up the thread hole and with a vertically placed bobbin it comes directly up with out that bend so it is able to stitch in many directions with out sacrificing stitch quality. There is no drag to feel. I have taken lots of classes in Houston at Quilt Festival and have always been underwhelmed when free motioning quilting on any other type of bobbin. Many of the straight stitch only machines (juke, Brother etc) have vertical bobbins also. I quilt large quilts without turning. Love the info from this site!Leslie

I can see how frustrating this would be if all the lines were marked. First, I practiced the Wiggly Pasta on a small quilt for my grandson. It is a Car Quilt that he helped me piece. I have renamed the stitching Crazy Racetrack! I didn't mark the lines and I think that makes it easier. Like Leah said, there is no right or wrong way to do the squiggles. It was good to practice on a larger piece. I did mark the outside loops, so they would be evenly spaced. Ended up doing quite a bit of travel stitching in the ditch on the Car Quilt, but the practice of that was good for me.

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